


stars over me

by saturnhoshi



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Crying, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Soonhoon - Freeform, Strangers to Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:49:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25004953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saturnhoshi/pseuds/saturnhoshi
Summary: Soonyoung has never seen someone looking as ethereal as his delivery boy. This is precisely the reason he orders Chinese food for the second time that week, that is to say, the very next day. Promise long forgotten, he actually did it to see helmet boy again.
Relationships: Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	stars over me

Soonyoung feels exhausted.

His finals are coming faster than he can see them coming, and he has no energy left from probably studying a bit too much. But he’s fine, really. Yeah, despite the fact that he’s barely home, almost been living at the library at this point, not eating much and probably losing some weight too, Soonyoung believes he’s completely fine. Nevertheless, he somehow still manages to text his friends as frequently as he can to reassure them.

Therefore, the next time his friends see him on campus, they’re absolutely appalled. Soonyoung might pretend he’s fine but he doesn’t look okay at all. He has big bags under his eyes, his face is livid, his cheeks are skinny although they used to be quite chubby, his eyes are merely open, and the only reason his lips are colored is because he bites them too much.

He walks really slowly too, like there’s the Earth’s burden on his back. Soonyoung smiles at them though, with that big and bright smile of his, which causes the disappearance of his eyes but shows the scrunch of his nose. Making his friends worry is the last thing he wants to do, but their faces clearly show that they are pretty much concerned. Hence, they make him promise to eat more and to take pictures of his food too (“for proof” they said), also to rest more (“No Soonyoung, you don’t have to take a picture of you sleeping _what the fuck_ , just promise to close your eyes and to have a decent amount of rest”, had threatened Jeonghan, one of his best friends) and eventually to work out more because apparently it’s a good way to release stress and, according to Seokmin, it keeps you in good health which Soonyoung is currently lacking. Soonyoung rolls his eyes but ends up promising them anyway, and Soonyoung always tries to keep his promises.

The first time he decides to respect his promise and to eat something, he realizes with horror that he doesn’t have any ingredient to make a proper meal and that his fridge is undeniably empty. He sighs and wonders for a second if he should go to the market but instantly shakes his head. It’s too hot outside and he’s feeling too weak to simply put his shoes, which reminds him that the next promise he should fulfill is the resting one.

Eventually, he decides to order something. Well, it’s not like he’s cheating. His friends never stated Soonyoung had to make his own food. He scrolls through the food delivery app for a second and opts for Chinese food. Then, he sits on his sofa and waits, plays with his phone for a bit and almost falls asleep. He’s on the edge of sleeping when he finally hears the entry phone of his apartment ringing. He gets up straight away, slightly staggering on his way, and answers the entry phone before going down the stairs to meet with the delivery person and to get his precious food.

When he’s finally on the first floor, Soonyoung notices the delivery person waiting behind the door, eyes glued on the ground, firmly holding his order on his right hand and a helmet on his left hand. It’s a young man, looking around his age, and Soonyoung takes a brief second to stare at him before he opens the door to take the food and to thank him. The delivery boy, faintly surprised by the sudden door opening, lifts his dark eyes and smiles shyly at him, giving Soonyoung his order.

He’s about to leave when Soonyoung stops him in order to give him a little tip, showing a dazzling smile. The boy in front of him beams back too, then proceeds to take the tip in Soonyoung’s hand, making their fingers brush, and thanks Soonyoung before he finally leaves. When Soonyoung turns back and climbs the stair, he realizes that for some reason the picture of the young man his mind captured doesn’t leave his thoughts for a while.

Back on his sofa, the food on the table and his cell phone ready to take a picture and send it to his friends, Soonyoung pauses for a moment and simply dazes off, reminiscing the short interaction he had with the stranger. The boy was smaller than him, his hair thoroughly colored in black. His eyes matched his hair color, and were decorated with long eyelash and what seemed to be eyeliner. His lips appeared rosy and soft, and his cheeks flushed a light pink color when Soonyoung gave him the tip, arching his dark and pretty eyebrows. Soonyoung also had the time to notice the boy’s septum, and he can’t help thinking that the boy was so fucking _pretty_. His face was extremely too attractive to only be the delivery guy Soonyoung will certainly never see again.

This is precisely the reason Soonyoung orders Chinese food for the second time that week, that is to say, the very next day. Promise long forgotten – but still doing the silly pictures of his food otherwise his friends won’t stop harassing him – he actually did it to see the other boy again. Soonyoung is quite unsure of seeing him again though, knowing there is a lot of delivery people in this world, but he also knows that if the person delivering his food happens to be that guy again, Soonyoung will not give up on him.

Soonyoung has liked plenty of boys before, has experienced two relationships in his life that didn’t end up really well, but still, the boy from yesterday is, in all probability, the prettiest boy he has ever seen. And perhaps his eyeliner has a lot to do with his attractiveness, but Soonyoung knows for sure that even bare-faced, the young man would be handsome. Even though he only looked at him for a single minute, Soonyoung can’t seem to forget the beautiful face of his. Or rather, he’s forgetting it and that’s the reason he called to order Chinese food again. He’ll be sick of it until the end of the week but the delivery guy is worth it, Soonyoung is certain of that.

Soonyoung is resolute. Today, if the person who gives him his Chinese food isn’t the boy from yesterday, he will move on and just keep the memory of his face as his brightest fantasy. However, if he happens to be the _helmet boy,_ Soonyoung will have to do something, anything, to not let him slip away from him. He’s way too pretty to just be a soon-to-be forgotten memory of his masculine ideal, he needs to become part of Soonyoung’s life, and he doubts he will be just by being the delivery boy Soonyoung will give tips for the rest of his life.

Thus, Soonyoung will talk to him. Try to do the talking, ask him for his name, or tell him his eyeliner looks neat… Well. Soonyoung can’t possibly do that. First of all, maybe the _helmet boy_ will be busy as hell with other commands and won’t have the patience to make conversation with Soonyoung. Also, maybe asking for his name is too much, _would I be pushing boundaries?_ Soonyoung wonders. He can’t take the risk to be taken for a psycho. The last problem is, Soonyoung doesn’t know much about makeup. So if he compliments _helmet boy_ about his eyeliner, Soonyoung is scared that it would come weird from his mouth. What if the other doesn’t wear makeup today? Or worse, what if he fails his eyeliner and Soonyoung compliments him and _helmet boy_ thinks Soonyoung is making fun of him –

Eventually, and thank God for that, Soonyoung’s anxious thoughts are saved by the bell. The entry phone of his apartment rings, it’s the second time this week and Soonyoung thinks with a sad smile that it’s been a while since he actually had company. He saw his friends not long ago but studying sessions take too much time of his life and it’s been weeks since he hasn’t received anyone home. His home or, to put it in another way, his apartment near campus. Because it’s definitely not his parents’ sweet home that he misses terribly.

Soonyoung is starting to be overwhelmed with feelings right now: his one-day crush, his exams, his friends, his family. The entry phone rings again. _Not the time for a panic attack._ Soonyoung exhales and forces himself to rush towards his door without answering the interphone, and he runs down the stairs, afraid the delivery person – whoever it is – might be mad at him for taking too much time.

When Soonyoung comes down, he knows he’s a mess. His face feels hot, he’s panting, he put on the first slippers he saw, and he doesn’t even know how his blond hair looks like right now. Hopefully it’s not greasy; Soonyoung hasn’t washed his hair for three days now and didn’t even look properly at a mirror for the last few days, too busy feeling depressed (and also studying, obviously).

Eventually, he catches his breath and raises his head towards the entrance, and it’s like his breath is cut again. He moves forward, carefully, like the ground is made of glass, and opens the entrance door. He opens the door to apologize for his late arrival but _helmet boy_ talks first.

“Are you okay?” he asks, light worry in his voice. And Soonyoung has been convincing everyone around him that _yes, he is okay_ and in the long run he realizes _he’s not_ and he’s exhausted, and weak, and suddenly he’s shaking and tears threaten to flow all over his face. _Pathetic. I’m so fucking pathetic._ “What’s wrong?”, the boy asks again and Soonyoung can’t take it, he notices _helmet boy_ ’s eyes widen and his vision blurry. 

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong, I’m sorry for being so late, you must have so many orders and –“

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. It’s totally fine. Actually you’re my last delivery, take your time to breathe and I’ll stay with you the whole time, until you feel better, all right ?” Soonyoung nods. He wants to tell _helmet boy_ to go, that he doesn’t have to waste time staying with a freak like him crying on the second encounter with a stranger but he can’t. He wants him to stay. Soonyoung knows he can’t be alone right now, he won’t handle it. And even if he’s ashamed, even if his mind is screaming, belittling him, insulting him, all he hears is white noise, cradled by a gentle voice telling him that everything is okay. And if Soonyoung knows it’s not true, and if nothing in his life feels okay at the moment, he doesn’t say anything. Even so, he agrees, he nods, he repeats after _helmet boy_ to convince his own self that everything is okay. And after a few, very long minutes, he starts to believe those words. He looks at the other boy who has been holding to his shoulders the whole time to steady Soonyoung’s shaking.

Soonyoung’s tears have stopped for a short time now, and neither of them have said anything. They’re just standing awkwardly in the entrance of his empty building, their breathing being the only source of noise. Their eyes never leave each other and sooner or later, _helmet boy_ has released his grip, but if you ask Soonyoung, he wouldn’t be able to tell you when it was. His body just happened to suddenly feel very cold but strong gaze staring into his instantly warmed him.

Soonyoung smiles. His eyes are puffy, he’s sniffing, blood is rushing through his thinned cheeks, and his mouth is redder than it has ever been these last weeks, yet, despite all of this, Soonyoung is finally feeling even better than he claimed to be. He’s feeling alive, his shoulders freeing from a weight he lifted for too long. It’s okay not to feel okay. And it’s even better to acknowledge it. Even to the first stranger he meets. _Helmet boy_ smiles back, food long cold on the ground, next to his helmet.

As a student whose only income come from his monthly scholarship and selling things on _Vinted_ , Soonyoung is definitely going to regret spending money on something he’s not even going to eat but right now, it’s not like he cares anyway.

“Thank you,” Soonyoung ends up saying after the long pause, “Also, I’m sorry. Seriously, you didn’t have to do that for me, you don’t even know me. I’m so thankful.” Long dried tears on his cheeks, Soonyoung’s brown eyes form a crescent moon, and his mouth curves upwards. It almost hurts to smile so much after such a long time. “By the way, would you mind telling me your name?” Soonyoung asks quickly, like he’s removing a bandage. _Boundaries have already been pushed the moment I cried a river in front of him, right?_

When _helmet boy_ smiles harder at that, Soonyoung’s muscles relax. He didn’t even notice they were tense in the first place.

“I’m Jihoon. Lee Jihoon.”, his cheeks flush a daylily color. “Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you feel better though. It was a panic attack, wasn’t it ?” Soonyoung nods. “I’m glad you weren’t alone, even if I’m a stranger and stuff. I’m glad I helped.”

“I’m glad you helped, too, Lee Jihoon. My name is Kwon Soonyoung. And now that we exchanged names, I don’t consider you a stranger – except if you told me a fake one and you’re actually planning on killing me tonight,” Jihoon grins, “if that’s not the case, I would be happy to become your friend.”

“Sure. That would make me happy too.” They’re both grinning like idiots and Soonyoung thinks _I want to see his smile every day._ “Is that my place now to say that eating Chinese food two days in a row is quite unhealthy?”

Soonyoung actually laughs at that. He hasn’t laughed for so long. He looks at Jihoon, still grinning, and he wonders if he’s imagining the glittering stars and Milky Way scattered around his pupils. Probably the lack of sleep.

“It’s not like I’m going to eat it now, though,” Soonyoung says in a sigh. “By the way, Jihoon,” Soonyoung continues. Jihoon tilts his head in wonder and hums, “Your eyeliner looks really neat.”

A thousand and one things conveyed in the span of one smile, Jihoon says “Thank you, Soonyoung.”

❀

Fortunately, Soonyoung doesn’t have to go for a third round in his delivery food app. After Jihoon helped him feeling better during his panic attack, Soonyoung mustered the courage to ask for his number, which Jihoon gave gladly – with a reddened face, though, blushing cheeks, and eyes wide as new moons. Soonyoung took notice of it but didn’t say a thing, just hummed goodbye and hurried back home, cold Chinese food on his hands, uneasy and starting to feel embarrassed after the scene he just caused. And if his face was in the same state of Jihoon’s, Soonyoung can always blame it on his post-crying face and not something else.

Back home, Soonyoung feels suddenly very proud for having invested in a microwave a few months ago. At that time, his bank account wasn’t particularly happy for the loss of the third digit but Soonyoung sold a lot of clothes on _Vinted_ the next week so he could actually finish the month.

He decides to reheat his food in short one-minute bursts and when he tastes it, he is awfully glad that his money wasn’t wasted because honestly speaking, it was quite delicious. The only reason he can’t finish the food is because he had the same thing yesterday, and – don’t tell Jeonghan – hasn’t eaten anything else even for breakfast. Soonyoung hates not finishing his food but he’s going to be sick if he eats one more piece of dumplings so he just settles for putting the leftovers on the empty fridge.

He looks at the time and gasps, he didn’t think the process of ordering food and eating it would take so long. And maybe it wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for his panic attack but what is done is done. The time has encroached on his studying hours so really, Soonyoung doesn’t have the choice, he settles for another sleepless night. He’s not really breaking his promise – he _will_ rest, just not today. And this time, it’s different, because he actually took conscience of his health earlier and he knows he’s not okay and, sure, Soonyoung gets that he needs to rest but he also really needs to pass his exams. One should be prioritized and sadly, right now it’s not his health.

Just one more exam and it will be the end of the semester. University students will have short holidays after that and Soonyoung already plans on sleeping the whole time but he knows he will probably see his friends a lot, take dance classes, go to parties and eventually sleep. And maybe in the back of his mind, Soonyoung wishes Jihoon will be part of Soonyoung’s plans these holidays.

He actually studies for three hours before knocking out on his desk. Today’s Wednesday and thankfully Soonyoung doesn’t have class tomorrow but still, his last exam is on Friday, so when he wakes up at 2AM, art history class’ papers glued to his face, he feels quite annoyed. He fell asleep right before learning the hardest chapter which means he will have to learn it tomorrow – rather, today – while he had planned to get rid of it before going to sleep. Soonyoung is too tired right now to do it, obviously since it’s 2AM and he just woke up with a painful neck and messed up hair. He decides to move onto his bed and puts an alarm for 1PM – he only has one chapter left to study so he will gladly fulfill his promise now.

These last hours, he was too busy studying for letting his mind wandering over Jihoon but right now, lying down on his bed, head heavy with sleep, he escapes back to Morpheus's arms and the last image on his mind is Jihoon’s blushing face – rosy cheeks, neat eyeliner on his eyes, shiny septum on his nose, glittery lips and brown eyes, the color of coffee but the brightness of his pupils is just like sugar. Soonyoung’s sleeping face is peaceful and a smile crosses his face.

The next day, that is to say a few hours later, Soonyoung wakes to his alarm and begins his morning routine although it’s already afternoon. After that he sits on his couch and eats his Chinese leftovers and it’s soon 3PM when he motivates himself to sit on his desk and study the last chapter of his art history class.

Soonyoung loves his classes. It’s not a burden for him to learn them because he enjoys them – however, when you’ve got a thousand pages to know by heart, it’s fast to feel overwhelmed. Still, he’s happy because he’s doing what he loves, even if there are classes that he wouldn’t miss. He has physical dance classes but also a lot of theory classes which could be boring but he does find them interesting. Learning about the lives of famous dancers of famous dance pieces brings him creativity and inspiration so really, he doesn’t mind.

He spends the afternoon studying and that night, sitting on his bed, Soonyoung feels helpless and anxious even though he knows he will master his exam. He just can’t help it, he hugs his knees to his chest for a short time and then collects himself, lies down on his bed, closes his eyes tightly and he doesn’t see Jihoon, neither does he fall asleep.

It’s still quite early and his exam is at 11AM, therefore Soonyoung opens his eyes and sighs, takes a look at his phone and feels his heart clench a bit. He seizes it and searches through his contacts. He hasn’t contacted Jihoon yet and maybe Jihoon already forgot about him – or worse, actually _remembers_ him and to be honest it’s not the best memory Jihoon could have of Soonyoung so yeah, it would be better if he forgot about it.

Well, Soonyoung doesn’t really want Jihoon to forget him so he takes courage upon his hands and writes him a short message. Nothing too big, just a text to tell him who he is – Soonyoung thinks it’s kind of empty so he settles on adding an emoji. Looking at his most recent emojis, he chooses the tiger one and sends the text.

He doesn’t have to wait long before Jihoon answers him, visibly confused about the emoji but he seems glad for his text and Soonyoung releases a relieved breath. He answers back and it goes like this for an hour or two, simply talking, Soonyoung making jokes, Jihoon being done, Soonyoung using too many emojis, Jihoon sending “hahaha” texts – and Soonyoung actually imagines his laugh, the knot in his stomach long forgotten.

Soonyoung stops answering Jihoon, deeply asleep on his bed, his phone on his chest, his cheeks flushed and hurt from smiling too much. The next day, he does successfully great on his exam and he texts Jihoon about it. Soonyoung’s heart drops when Jihoon congratulates him with a tiger emoji – Soonyoung’s signature – and an actual heart emoji. Really unexpected, coming from Jihoon. Soonyoung feels even more happy and proud and the adrenaline pushes him further and he wants to see Jihoon. He asks if they can hang out together and Jihoon’s text simply says _I finish class at 5. SNU university. Can you come?_

And Soonyoung feels like slapping himself, his heart slinking down onto his body, his eyes widening and his breath cutting short. It’s like he’s been struck by lightning, he’s paralyzed and Jihoon is so used to him answering quickly to his texts that he actually sends another text, visibly concerned. _It’s okay if you can’t! We can meet up in a café, send me an address and I’ll come around 6._

Soonyoung reads the text without reading it, too confused to properly set his thoughts straight. He knows Jihoon lives in Seoul, Jihoon told him a bunch of things about himself last night but he never mentioned his studies and Soonyoung simply assumed he was only working as delivery boy but fuck, of course it’s just some student job. Of course, Jihoon is a university student.

But it’s not just that. He’s a SNU university student. It’s Soonyoung’s university as well and he feels like screaming because he was there the whole time and they’ve never noticed each other – at least, Soonyoung hasn’t. He pulls himself together and when he texts Jihoon, he stops himself and hesitantly put his finger on the _Call_ option. Eventually, he calls him. Realizing soon enough that Jihoon could be in class, he goes to end the call but Jihoon picks up first.

“Hello?”, the voice at the end of the line is soft and Soonyoung immediately smiles at it. “Are you okay, Soonyoung?”

Soonyoung feels a jolt through his body as he distinguishes a short silhouette walking on campus, phone to his ear. He walks up towards the small figure and it’s like he’s walking up to the burning sun, Jihoon’s eyes wide like orbits. Soonyoung feels his face warm, dyed red and orange by the sun and really, it’s just Jihoon’s face. Still, Soonyoung feels like he’s wearing sunset looking at Jihoon’s blinding figure and if Jihoon is the sun, maybe Soonyoung’s eyes forming crescent moon is a hint about what he is himself.

Soonyoung keeps the phone to his ear although Jihoon is right in front of him, shocked. “Hey. I’m feeling really fine, actually.” Thanks to you goes unsaid but Jihoon’s grin hints that it is heard.

**Author's Note:**

> hello !! <3 so i originally planned to make this a chaptered story but failed at my mission :( i'm so sorry for whoever was looking forward the next chapters... but i will definitely not let you down and i promise to keep challenging myself and to keep writing stories, i just need to get over my writers blocks and keep being inspired by the works i read (i think i'm a reader before i'm a writer) and i need to work harder because obviously i'm not doing enough efforts, but i want to so please keep believing in me if you like my stories even a tiny bit
> 
> apart from that, i hope you enjoyed this short one shot !! soonhoon were so cute, i'm a sucker for jihoon with makeup so yeah i tried to transmit that through soonyoung haha. i also relate a lot to soonyoung in regards to his anxiety in this fic
> 
> anyway, if you liked this story and if you have time, feel free to check my other published stories :) please be kind and respectful. also, let me know what you thought about this by commenting or leaving kudos. comments are always appreciated, they always make my day better <3 a big thank you to whoever always leaves comments on my stories.
> 
> please have a good day or a sweet night
> 
> ps: english is not my first language :)


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